Despite leading the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl title, veteran quarterback Sam Darnold’s pockets will be a little lighter soon.
According to Michael Nied of People, analyses by Sportico and Forbes revealed that Darnold will pay more in taxes than what he earned for defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday.
For the Super Bowl, members of the winning team are paid $178,000, while players for the losing team receive $103,000. However, with the game being played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, every player will have to pay California’s “jock tax,” which is “an additional tax on out-of-state players based on how many ‘duty days’ they spend in the state for a game,” per Nied.
Darnold and the Seahawks arrived in California a week ahead of Super Bowl 60, so they will be charged for at least eight “duty days,” with additional days likely to be accrued before the start of the 2026 season. According to Nied, “Sportico estimated that [Darnold would] end up paying approximately $249,000 in California taxes, while Forbes estimated that his total might come to around $197,771.”
Conversely, it was estimated that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye would have received a tax bill totaling around $186,000 had New England won, due to having a lower annual salary than Darnold.
Luckily for Darnold, he received a $2.5 million bonus for winning the Super Bowl as part of his three-year, $105 million contract with the Seahawks. He’s also likely to have more financial opportunities coming his way soon as the reigning Super Bowl-winning quarterback in the NFL.